Hi David,
I've been working some with earthworms recently, in a vermiculture set-up.=
I'll tell you that contact mikes are basically useless for my purposes unle=
ss the worms are directly on top of the piezo disks -- the soil/organic mat=
erial just doesn't transmit enough vibration.
In a very quite room, I've used a shotgun mic (Sennheiser 416) with some su=
ccess, but I've had the best luck with a hydrophone (Aquarian Audio h2a) in=
both a container-based vermiculture set-up and in and around a local aquap=
onics system.
If you're willing to put in some money and effort, you could certainly desi=
gn an enclosure to amplify their vibrations and mute out outside noise. Tha=
t's what the folks from the USDA Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research Gr=
oup (http://www.ars.usda.gov/AboutUs/AboutUs.htm?modecode=3D66-15-10-10) se=
ems to do most often. I've had a bit of trouble figuring out how exactly th=
e devices are constructed, though, so let us know if you figure anything ou=
t!
Take care,
Jordan
--- In "corticalsongs" <=
> wrote:
>
> I wonder if anyone on list has experience recording very small things, no=
n-singing insects or invertebrates for instance.
>
> I suppose using contact microphones would be one solution. If I was going=
to record them in open air, is it just a matter of getting the microphones=
really close?
>
> David
>
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